CHAPTER 16: The File They Stole

For a few seconds, Aria could only stare at him.

The words didn’t fully register at first.

They stole your original file.

The kitchen suddenly felt too bright, too quiet. Morning sunlight still spilled across the marble counters like nothing had changed, but inside her chest something had shifted violently out of place.

“What do you mean they stole it?” she asked.

Ethan grabbed his car keys from the counter. “I mean Victor’s men broke into a secured records facility less than an hour ago.”

“And my file was there?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because I moved it there after I started investigating your background.”

Aria blinked at him. “You moved my records into a private facility without telling me?”

Ethan’s patience thinned visibly. “Aria, now is not the time to focus on that part.”

“The hell it isn’t.”

The sharpness in her voice stopped him for a second.

She pushed the papers away from her, anger finally cutting through the confusion.

“You keep saying you were trying to protect me, but every single thing I learn sounds more insane than the last.”

Ethan looked like he wanted to argue.

Instead, he exhaled slowly and pressed a hand briefly against the back of his neck.

“You’re right.”

The admission caught her off guard.

“But right now,” he continued, “Victor has information I was trying to keep away from him.”

Fear crept back into the room immediately.

Aria folded her arms tightly across herself. “What exactly was in that file?”

Ethan hesitated.

That hesitation again.

God, she was beginning to hate it.

“What?” she demanded.

“There was a birth certificate.”

Her pulse stumbled.

“And?”

“It wasn’t under your name.”

The room went completely silent.

Aria felt her stomach twist painfully.

“What name?”

Ethan looked at her for a long moment before answering.

“Isabella.”

The word hit like ice water.

“No.”

“It may not mean what you think.”

“Then explain it to me.”

Ethan stepped closer carefully, like he was trying not to push her too far too quickly.

“The document was incomplete,” he said. “No surname listed. No official registration afterward. It could’ve been falsified.”

“But you think it’s real.”

His silence answered her.

Aria laughed once under her breath, but there was no humor in it.

“This is insane.”

“I know.”

“No, you don’t.” She shook her head, pacing away from the counter now. “You’ve had time to process this. I found out less than twelve hours ago that I apparently look identical to a missing woman whose father thinks I’m dead.”

Ethan watched her carefully but didn’t interrupt.

“And now you’re telling me there are records connecting me to her name?”

The panic she’d been holding back all morning finally started slipping through.

“That’s not possible. My parents—”

She stopped abruptly.

A memory surfaced suddenly.

Sharp enough to make her dizzy.

She was maybe seven years old.

Standing in the kitchen late at night.

Her mother arguing quietly with someone on the phone.

No. She can never know.

Aria froze.

The memory vanished almost immediately, but the feeling lingered.

Unease.

Fear.

She pressed her fingers lightly against her temple.

Ethan noticed instantly. “What is it?”

“I…” She frowned. “Nothing. I just remembered something.”

“What?”

Aria shook her head slowly. “I don’t even know if it matters.”

Ethan stepped closer. “Tell me anyway.”

She hesitated before speaking.

“When I was younger, my mother used to get nervous whenever people asked questions about our family.” Aria looked down briefly, trying to organize the fragmented memory. “I thought it was because we moved around a lot after my father got sick.”

Ethan stayed quiet.

Encouraging her to continue.

“There was one night…” She frowned harder. “I remember hearing her argue with someone on the phone. She sounded terrified.”

“What did she say?”

Aria swallowed.

“She said, ‘She can never know.’”

The atmosphere shifted immediately.

Ethan’s expression darkened slightly.

“Do you remember anything else?”

“No.”

And that frustrated her more than anything.

Her own memories felt unreliable now.

Like pieces of someone else’s life scattered inside her head.

Ethan’s phone buzzed again on the counter.

This time he ignored it.

Aria noticed.

“Answer it.”

“It can wait.”

“No,” she said firmly. “It probably can’t.”

His jaw tightened before he finally picked up the call.

“Yes?”

Aria watched his expression carefully as he listened.

Then she saw the exact moment the situation got worse.

His posture stiffened.

“What do you mean he left the city?”

A pause.

Ethan’s gaze shifted briefly toward her.

“When?”

Another silence.

Then he ended the call abruptly.

Aria’s stomach dropped.

“What happened?”

Ethan looked genuinely troubled now.

“Victor left less than thirty minutes after getting your file.”

“Where did he go?”

“We don’t know.”

That answer clearly bothered him.

Badly.

“You think he found something in the records.”

“I think he found something important enough to move immediately.”

Fear settled deeper into her chest.

Aria wrapped her arms around herself again, suddenly cold despite the sunlight filling the apartment.

“What if he really believes I’m Isabella?”

Ethan’s gaze locked onto hers instantly.

“You are not Isabella.”

The certainty in his voice should have comforted her.

Instead, it raised another question.

“You sound like you’re trying to convince yourself.”

Silence.

That was answer enough.

Aria turned away from him and walked toward the windows overlooking the city.

Everything below looked normal.

People moving to work.

Traffic building across intersections.

Coffee shops opening.

Meanwhile, her life had become something unrecognizable in less than a week.

“Tell me something honestly,” she said quietly.

Ethan waited.

“If those records had never existed…” She swallowed. “Would you have still married me?”

The question lingered between them painfully.

Too honest to avoid.

Behind her, she heard Ethan move slightly.

Then his voice came, lower than before.

“Yes.”

Aria closed her eyes briefly.

Part of her wanted to believe him immediately.

Another part no longer trusted herself enough to know when she was being manipulated.

Before she could answer, the apartment intercom buzzed sharply.

Both of them looked toward it at the same time.

Ethan frowned.

“I’m not expecting anyone.”

The intercom buzzed again.

More insistently this time.

Ethan crossed the room and pressed the answer button.

“What is it?”

The concierge’s nervous voice crackled through the speaker.

“Mr. Blackwood… there’s a delivery downstairs addressed to Miss Bennett.”

Aria frowned slightly.

“A delivery?”

Ethan’s expression remained tense. “Who sent it?”

A pause followed.

Then the concierge answered carefully.

“There’s no sender listed.”

Something cold moved through Aria instantly.

Ethan noticed her reaction.

“Don’t bring anything upstairs,” he said sharply.

But before the concierge could respond, another voice suddenly came through the intercom.

Male.

Calm.

Smooth.

“Too late for that.”

Aria’s blood froze.

Because she recognized the voice immediately.

Victor Hale.

Ethan’s face darkened instantly. “How did you get access to this line?”

Victor ignored the question.

“I thought she deserved to have something that belongs to her.”

The elevator down the hall dinged softly.

Both Aria and Ethan turned toward the sound at the exact same moment.

Then came footsteps.

Slow.

Unhurried.

Approaching the penthouse door.

Victor spoke again through the intercom, his voice almost conversational now.

“You should open the package, Aria.”

And then the line went dead.